Probe discovers striking parallel: bombs in Jaipur, Hyderabad ditto

The Indian Express spoke to several investigators in Jaipur and New Delhi and police officials and the following have emerged as key leads in the case:

• Each bomb had an average of 7.5 kg of explosives and shrapnel packed into it. The bombs proved more lethal as they were “directional chargers,” meaning on explosion the impact was focused in a particular direction to inflict maximum damage — similar bombs were used in last year’s Hyderabad blast at the Gokul Chaat Bhandar.

• Sources said the explosive material was packed tightly in a cloth and then again wrapped in a crepe bandage fortified with ball bearings and iron shrapnel. A Samaya quartz clock was used as a timer, similar to the ones used in Hyderabad, Delhi and Varanasi.

• Just like in the Hyderabad blasts, the explosive was wrapped in a case and a white tape was used that was also found in one of the explosives used in the Lucknow court blasts.

• The clock in the defused bomb was cushioned by a pair of men’s briefs. It was in a haversack, the kind that is not readily available in Jaipur.

• The manufacturing code of a mangled Avon bicycle recovered from one blast site led the police to a bicycle shop at Kishanpole Bazaar where it was bought barely five hours before the blast. It is learnt that the shopkeeper helped the police draw a sketch of the person who bought the bicycle around 2 pm on Tuesday and even admitted that the buyer had been able to bargain down the price by Rs 100.

• Nine bicycles were apparently used to carry explosives to different sites. The police suspect these were all bought recently. Given the number of bicycles used in the blasts, the police believe that at least half-a-dozen, if not more, people must have been involved in executing the plan. One estimate put the number of plotters at 20.

• Six cigarette packets, suspected to be from Bangladesh, are said to have been recovered from the blast sites.

The Hyderabad blasts were attributed to HuJI, which appears to be the group behind the Jaipur blasts too going by these preliminary inputs. But investigators are handicapped by the slow progress in the Hyderabad case. Agencies are also finding it difficult to name SIMI as its key leadership, including Safdar Nagori, is under arrest.

The Jaipur police have registered three FIRs at three police stations, Manak Pura, Kotwali and Sanjay Circle. Local police have recorded statements of at least 70 witnesses, more than 20 people were interrogated.

There were false alarms, too. The police spent several hours on a “lead” provided by an ex-serviceman from Haryana who was on a bus to Jaipur when the blasts took place. The man claimed to have overheard three fellow-passengers, all youths, saying “we want more than four. It is not enough.”

After arriving in Jaipur, the man rushed to the police, telling them that three “suspects” with small packets had boarded a taxi. The police asked the man to accompany them to the railway station and bus stand. He was even taken to Sanganer airport this morning when three flights were scheduled to depart. Finally, the three “suspects” were tracked down to Udaipur but it was later established they had “nothing to do with the blasts”. Another man, injured in the blasts, claimed that two women had set them off. This also turned out to be a hoax.

Meanwhile, with National Security Advisor M K Narayanan upset over the lack of intelligence on the possibility of Jaipur being a terror target and the slow progress in investigations into other cases, a crack team of top officials has been set up in the Intelligence Bureau. This will monitor progress on a daily basis and report to the Director who, in turn, will keep the NSA posted.

Explosives: What was used where

• RDX and TNT with cellular phone trigger: Ajmer Sharif explosion and Mecca Masjid blasts, Hyderabad

• Ammonium Nitrate with RDX mounted on cycles: Malegaon, two of the four explosives at Varanasi and Lucknow (the other two did not contain RDX)

• Ammonium Nitrate in C-shaped wooden boxes with metal casing and alarm-clock timer: Jaipur blasts, Faizabad court blasts, and the explosions at Gokul Chaat Bhandar and Lumbini Park, Hyderabad